Fix: Internal Microphone stopped working after Windows 10 Upgrade

For those of you who are using HP laptops and you upgraded to Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9926 you might have noticed that the internal microphone is not working anymore.Well we have manage to find a fix to the internal microphone issue for Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9926 and you can follow the tutorial posted below for a detailed explanation on this subject and also follow the steps in the order they are described for a more quicker fix.

Basically the apps you have installed in Windows 10 will not detect your internal microphone and changing the BIOS settings is not enough to get this issue fixed in Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9926. In this tutorial we will also try to uninstall the IDT high definition drivers because these will also interfere with your internal microphone and latest build of Windows 10.

Fix: Internal Microphone stopped working in Windows 10

Solution 1 – Update drivers

Let’s start nice and slow, and with the most common solution. The very first thing you should do when dealing with any hardware-related issue is checking if your driver are up to date. And the internal microphone on your laptop is not an exception.

If you’re not sure how to check your microphone drivers, just follow the instructions below:

Go to Search, type devicemngr, and open Device Manager

Expand Audio Inputs and Outputs

Right-click your microphone, and go to Update Driver Software

Wait for the process to finish

Restart your computer

We also recommend TweakBit Driver Updater(100% safe and tested by us) to automatically download all the outdated drivers on your PC. This tool will prevent file loss and help you to avoid permanent damage to your PC caused by downloading and installing the wrong driver versions.

Disclaimer: some features of this tool are not free.

If there’s a new update for your microphone driver, the Driver wizard will install it automatically. However, if there’s no new update, or the problem still persists even after installing the update, move on to another solution.

Solution 2 – Re-enable the microphone

If you’ve tweaked some privacy settings in the past, there’s a chance you accidentally blocked the apps from using your microphone. In that case, all you need to do is to allow apps to use the microphone, and you should be good.

Here’s how to do that:

Go to Settings > Privacy

Head over to the Microphone section

Now, just toggle Let apps use my microphone

Solution 3 – Set Microphone as Default Recording Device

If you’ve used an external microphone, there’s a chance it’s still set as a default recording device. And if your built-in microphone isn’t set as a default recording device, you won’t be able to use it.

Here’s how to check if your built-in microphone is set as default recording device:

Right-click the sound icon in the taskbar

Go to Recording devices

Right-click your built-in microphone, and go to Set as default device

Restart your computer

Solution 4 – Check if microphone is muted

Another silly thing that may cause you problems is your built-in microphone being actually muted. Here’s how to check if that’s the case:

Right-click the sound icon in the taskbar

Go to Recording devices

Right-click your microphone and go to Properties

Go to the Levels tab and increase the level of your microphone

Solution 5 – Disable Audio Enhancements

Although Audio Enhancements can actually improve the whole sound experience on your computer, this feature is also a known cluprit of various speaker or microphone-related issues. So, sometimnes the best thing you can do is to simply disable Audio Enhancements.

And here’s how to do that:

Right-click the sound icon in the taskbar

Go to Recording devices

Right-click your microphone and go to Properties

Head over to the Enhancements tab

Check Disable all sound effects

Save changes

Solution 6 – Use the Troubleshooter

If you’re using Windows 10 Creators Update or later, you have a new troubleshooting tool designed to deal with various system related issues. Including sound and recording problems.

Here’s how to run the Sound Troubleshooter:

Go to Settings

Head over to Update & Security > Troubleshoot

Find Recording Audio, and click Run the troubleshooter

Follow further on-screen instructions

Restart your computer

Solution 7 – Change the audio format

Right-click the sound icon in the taskbar

Go to Recording devices

Right-click your microphone and go to Properties

Head over to the Advanced tab

Under Default Format, choose another frequency form the dropdown menu

Save changes

Restart your computer

Solution 8 – Reset Windows Audio service

The next thing we’re going to try is resetting the Windows Audio service. This service is responsible for sound on your computer, which includes recording it, as well. So, if somethign’s wrong with this service, you’ll pobably have problems using your microphone.

Here’s exactly what you need to do:

Go to Search, type services.msc, and open Services.

Find the Windows Audio service.

If this service is not enabled, right-click it, and select Start. If it’s enabled, right-click it and select Restart.

Wait for the process to finish.

Restart your computer.

That’s it guys, I am sure that you did not encountered any issues while applying the steps above but if you did ran into trouble along the way in this tutorial please don’t hesitate to write us in the comments section of the page situated a few rows below and we will help you further with this subject.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2015 and has been since completely revamped and updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.